Literary Lunch: MAGIC RAMEN

Today we have a special visitor . . . our old friend, Nina Holstead from Mamabelly's Lunches with Love, is back! And she's serving a magical lunch. 

Have you ever wondered who invented ramen? Andrea Wang tells the story of Momofuku Ando, the inventor of ramen, in her beautiful new book MAGIC RAMEN.  

Kana Urbanowicz's mouth-watering pictures will inspire you to make your very own bowl of ramen.

Mr. Ando worked day in and day out to create quick, convenient, and tasty noodle soup for all the people he saw standing in long lines after WWII to get food. He believed that peace follows from a full stomach and went to work to create what we all know as instant ramen. He eventually went on to invent Cup Noodles and his ramen even went into space.

Read more about Momofuku Ando and his journey in MAGIC RAMEN.

Nina from Mamabelly.com packed a lunch full of noodles and love:

• two banana bread "chicken drumsticks"
• nutritious strawberries and blueberries 
• happy cheese sandwich people looking forward to ramen
• a carrot, celery, and mushroom salad with Mr. Ando's backyard shack
• a bowl of healthy ramen with chicken, carrots, cheese hearts, spinach, and an egg  

Literary Lunch . . . with The Infamous Ratsos!

Today's Literary Lunch Menu is brought to you by our wonderful caterer, Nina, from Mamabelly!

For more of her fabulous BENTO creations visit her website:

MAMABELLY LUNCHES WITH LOVE

Scroll down to learn how to make this lunch. . .

Louie and Ralphie Ratso want to be TOUGH just like their dad, Big Lou. But every time they try to show the world how tough they are, they end up proving how kind and generous and helpful they are instead. What will Big Lou think when he hears just how bad the Ratso Brothers are at being bad?

Nina from Mamabelly packed an infamously tough lunch to accompany the book:

• Tiny Crawley's hat on cheese crackers
• Mrs. Porcupini's cereal bar soap 
• Mr. O'Hare's hot chocolate pudding
• and the Infamous Ratso Sandwich for Florinda Rabbitski : grilled cheddar with beets and pickled mushrooms! Yum-O!

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Literary Lunch: Salad Pie

Our talented caterer, Nina at Lunches with Love, has prepared a gorgeous SALAD PIE for you!

Make the lunch, read the book. . . . There is nothing better than finding the playground empty and having it all to yourself. Maggie is overjoyed. Everything is perfect for making Salad Pie. That is until Herbert arrives. Herbert wants to help make Salad Pie. But can Maggie make room for him in her game?

Nina from Mamabelly.com made her own Salad Pie featuring:

• about 19 spinach leaves
• 6 snow peas
• 2 "crab apple" radishes
• 2 radish halves
• 11 blueberries
• 9 roasted chick peas and
• 3 cracker "sticks"

Literary Lunch . . . with Lady Pancake and Sir French Toast

Ever wonder what's going on in your fridge once you close the door? Find out in Josh Funk's lively new picture book LADY PANCAKE & SIR FRENCH TOAST, beautifully illustrated by Brendan Kearney!

Lady Pancake and Sir French Toast are best friends until rumor has it that only one drop of maple syrup remains in the fridge. The friends race to see who will get to the syrup first and enjoy the last of the sweet treat.

Our brilliantly talented caterer, Nina from Mamabelly's Lunches with Love. packed what was in her fridge for today's Literary Lunch:

• A Sir French Toast 
• A Lady Pancake chocolate sandwich
• the prized, almost empty bottle of maple syrup
• and some carrot, red pepper, green grape and homemade chicken nugget onlookers.

Click here to read Mr. Pig's interview with Sir French Toast & Lady Pancake.

Literary Lunch . . . STORMY NIGHT by Salina Yoon

Meet Bear and Floopy from Salina Yoon's new book STORMY NIGHT. When Bear can't sleep on a stormy night, Floppy, his toy bunny; Bear's family; and a few tricks help Bear feel less frightened.

Even though Bear is scared of the storm at first, the storm is over before he knows it, thanks to a familiar song, kiss, and tickle.

This is a great book to read to kids during a thunderstorm. Nina's kids loved the beautiful illustrations and all the ways Bear's family tries to make him feel better.

And don't worry, Bear's frown eventually turns back into a big smile. . . .

Nina from Mamabelly's Lunches with Love packed a comforting lunch for any stormy night:

• popcorn to snack on while waiting out the storm
• a big fruit leather curtain to hide under 
• and a Bear and Floppy sandwich with chocolate decorations

Literary Lunch . . . with Early Bird and Night Owl!

Meet Early Bird and Night Owl, the charming stars of Toni Yuly's new picture books. Early Bird likes to get up early and Night Owl loves to stay up late. Since they're both in the Cottage today, Nina from Mamabelly made lunch for two:

Both books are beautifully illustrated with bright colors and clean shapes. While Early Bird emphasizes action words, Night Owl highlights sound words.

To find out if Early Bird really catches the early worm and . . .

if Night Owl really stays up all night, share these adorable books with your little early birds or night owls!

Nina from Mamabelly has prepared a lunch for both early birds and night owls everywhere:

• Early Bird's lunch includes blueberries, a raspberry Early Bird sandwich, and of course an Early (gummy) Worm
• Night Owl's lunch includes blueberries as well (it has to be fair), and a peanut butter and almond Night Owl sandwich

Nina | Mamabelly's Lunches with Love web: www.mamabelly.com facebook: www.facebook.com/MamabellysLunchesWithLove twitter: @LunchesWithLove